Adam Gaffin checks out Boston Globe ombudsman Richard Chacón’s new blog and finds evidence in this post (about why he’s not allowing real-time comments) that Chacón’s technical knowledge is wanting.
Still, I’m not sure I want Chacón to turn his blog into an open forum. Steve wrote the other day that Chacón would be likely to receive 10 times as many comments as Media Nation. Try 100 times. I want someone to wade through the comments Chacón receives and post only those that are the most on-point.
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mike_b1
Your logic is way off, Dan.Let’s say Chacon were to receive 200 comments a day. Not all of them would be asking for a reply. And some would certainly be similar and could be replied to as a group.Finally — and this is most important — without the public, what’s the point of a public editor?
Mike Wyatt
Dan, are you implying that we’re all a bunch of Emily Latella wannabees?
Neil
“Wading through” input from those pesky inconvenient Globe readers is exactly the point of the ombudsman’s job. So is responding to input he considers of merit, and ignoring the rest. (In other words he should do the filtering task Dan wants.)Meanwhile readers of his blog who do not wish to wade through the swamp of hundred-fold useless comments can simply oh, I don’t know…not read them. Or pretend that comments are not enabled! Personally I find the “page down” key sufficient in skipping past volumes of junk.Comments are just another channel for reader feedback. The Globe should consider itself lucky to get 100 times the input that Media Nation gets. Fat chance of that anyway.Why assume the worst of your readers. At least give them a chance to earn your disdain!